A Winter Scarf
by O.oSerenityo.O
Summary: Full Summary inside. Rating may change, dunno yet.
1. MmmhmmmTea

Disclamer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago.

Full Summary (Note: Tite may and probably will change):

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura dissappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf take the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

Lemme know what you guys think, I know it's a pretty bad summary, but from taking enough english tests in my past years i've learned that summarizing things is not my cup of tea... So bear with me.. heh. Also you can see i'm not that strong in the naming area either... goodness knows what the enemies names will be, God help.

Author's Note: Be kind.. very first story.

**Chapter 1**

Mmmhmmm..Tea

As soon as she left the comfortable warmth the hospital gave, she was greeted with the cold that stole her breath for a few moments. She ignored it though, snuggling deeper into the cloak she wore, making sure the navy blue scarf that had the little red and white fan imprinted on the corner-a little something she stole from her boyfriend going on one year-was wrapped tightly around her slender neck. The freezing breeze seemed to have no mercy as it caught her short pink locks, causing them to whip across her flushed face in an unforgivable manner.

She mentally cursed Tsunade and her Hokage privlages. She just had to send an ANBU team-which consisted of Hinata, Naruto, Sai, Sasuke, and Neji, she could only wish Hinata luck being stuck with four boys who constantly fought, maybe Naruto would act mature with his fiance there...doubt it-to go and check out a village where there had been major attacks by a large number of shinobi. Sakura wished them the best in hell for stealing away her Sasuke-kun, who would be walking her home being his over-protective self, keeping her warm.

The weather was miserable, but she always fancied winter more than the other seasons, she had her reasons, her inner self broadcasting the main one off in her head like it was the answer to everything **'Sasuke-kun!'** But she liked to say it was the snow, the pureness of it, the crunching sound it made under her boots, and the way it just sort of made everything glow. Plus, it gave her the excuse to snuggle as close to Sasuke as humanly capable and he couldn't say a damned thing about it, well, that is if he didn't want a nasty bonk to the skull by her infamous fist.

Seeing her door she could almost taste the warm tea sliding down her throat. Hurrying her steps she quickly grabbed her keys and slid them in the door and shoved her way inside her home.Closing the door behind her, sealing the warmth inside she took off her cloak and hung it in the hall closet. Going into the kitchen she set her keys on the table and grabbed the tea kettle. Placing it in the sink she turned the scoulding water on and watched as the steamy liquid streamed into the container. While she waited she made the move to unwind the scarf but when she touched the soft frabic she hesitated. Insead she gently took an end of it and brought it up, burying her face into the cloth. The forest scent that had a touch of ramen fumes dominated her senses. It was the smell of Sasuke, the ramen touch making her remeber when she actually stole the said peice of clothing.

_"Sasuke-Teme!" Naruto's unmistakable voice broke the peace of Konoha. Sakura could only smile as she walked into Ichiraku to stare at two of her favorite people. The blonde was currently frailing his arms about at the raven-haired boy while the stall owners had their hands out, demanding for payment. Sasuke had long ago finished his bowl and paid for his portion and being the friend he was-he constantly asks himself why-sat and tolerated the disgusting show of Naruto stuffing his face for five bowls straight without so much as a breather._

_"Please?"_

_"No."_

_"C'mon, I forgot my wallet."_

_"No."_

_Naruto's fluster only seemed to grow to the point where he was getting prepared to fight the "teme" for his cash. But as quickly as the silly plan entered his mind it left as his electric blue gaze landed on the emerald eyed medic. "SAKURA-CHAN!"_

_That evil grin crossed his face as he turned to face Sasuke, while the prodigy turned in his seat to greet the third member of the original team seven. Naruto gave him no such chance though, "Sakura-chan, could I borrow some money please?" He gave her that toothy grin and she knew that she wasn't going to get any money back what-so-ever. Giving a sigh she reached into her pocket to get her wallet but stopped as Sasuke stood up and tossed some money on the counter with an irratated grunt. Naruto just grinned, who said he wasn't smart, he knew Sasuke wouldn't let Sakura pay, far to prideful. He never thought of the consequences though, and regretted it with a rough smack to the head. "Sakura-chan... that hurt."_

_"You have pockets for a reason." Sasuke just smirked at his girlfriend's antics before she placed a kiss on his cheek. "I was heading to the hospital and saw you guys. Do you have a mission?" She looked down to notice their ANBU uniforms. All she got in return was a "Hn." So articulate._

_"We'll be back in a couple of days Sakura-chan, just checking out a village." Naruto grinned he had been to the village before, awesome ramen._

_"Oh, well then I hope you have fun, but I need to go, so come back in one peice alright." She smiled up at the six-foot Sharingan user and he just stared at her for a moment before taking her hand in his and walking out of the ramen stall raising a hand to give Naruto the sign he was leaving who just yelled back "Bye Sakura-chan! See ya in a bit Teme!" Once out of the stall she walked closer to Sasuke, leaning her head on his arm as they made their way to the hosiptal. They were silent until they reached the door where she turned to him and gave him a gentle kiss. _

_"I'll leave the window unlocked for you." She always did this when he left for a mission, it was just a tradition. Most of the time he would climb through her bedroom window and if he was clean enough he would collapse next to her, or he would end up sleeping in a chair. It was just her way of showing him he had something to come home to._

_"Until then, I'm gonna keep this though." She slid his scarf off and put it around her own neck before flashing that smile that was reserved just for him and going into the hosiptal doors. "Bye Sasuke-kun, be safe!" She waved as she disappeared from view and went along her day. Leaving the boy with an irratated stare directed at the door she had just walked through before turning and muttering something about "women," and "annoying."_

She could only smile and stifle a giggle at the memory before reality smacked her upside the head while she listened to her inner self and allowed a "Shannaro" to slip. She didn't know how long the seering water had been overflowing from the kettle, and she knew it would be stupid to reach out and touch the pot just yet. Turning off the water she searched around her kitchen until a towel was found and fixed the small problem. Pouring out the excess fluid she put the water on the stove to boil and left to her bedroom to change.

She passed by pictures she had longed to cherish more than anything. If her house was ever set on fire she knew that they would be the first thing she grabbed if anything. The first was the picture of her cell, Kakashi with that all-knowing grin, purposly annoying the two scoweling boys while she gave that naive smile in the middle just happy to be there. The next was of her and Ino when they were little, they were gathering flowers together, unknowing as Sakura's mother snapped the shot. The third had a few pictures, a collage if it was to be called something, Ino was giving an affectionate headlock to her "Shika-kun" while he gave in return an annoyed stare. Hinata rivaled tomatos as she looked at nothing in particular, shock evident on her face as the kyuubi boy placed a kiss on her cheek, his own cheeks tinted a slight pink. Neji had his arm around Tenten, who was just leaning into her love's embrace as they lounged on Sakura's couch during one of her monthly get-togethers where she forced all of her friends to come to her house and enjoy some time together. There was one of Kiba and a girl, walking next to Shino who seemed to be in awe of the girl he himself was with as she was amazed by a insect passing. There was even one of Chouji, actually offering to share food with a girl, that relationship was iron-clad. Kakashi had a little snapshot as well, buying Anko some dumplings, Shizune was with Genma, her smacking him upside the head, Tsunade was glaring at a giggling Jiraya, her mother kissing her father, and last but not least her and her Sasuke-kun. The picture was before they even got together, but this was when she found out, looking back, that he at least cared. It was the beginning of winter a year ago, whenever she looked at the photo, a memory came back to her and made her blush slightly.

_"Sakura-chan, i'm so sorry! I'm really really really sorry, do you want me to buy you ramen, cause I will..." The boy was pleading with her as she glared, shivering like there was no end. They had been training when Naruto being the clumsy one he was knocked into her, forcing her to fall straight into the river. She had never been so irked, but she knew that if looks could kill, Naruto would have died watching her destroy all ramen._

_"Sakura-chan, please, it was an accident, here, take my jack-" He was in complete shock and that caused curiousness to overcome Sakura until she registered that her jacket had been removed and something warm was there instead. She looked at the jacket she had around her now and never realized Kakashi snap the shot, but instead looked to Sasuke who had noticed the flash and was sending a glare to their sensei. She blushed and smiled at the boy and she never felt warmer as she snuggled into his coat. "Are you sure Sasuke-kun, you'll get cold."_

_"Just take it."_

_"Arigato, Sasuke-kun."_

Now, whenever she looked back on the picture she would see the blush on his face and get the same warm tingly feeling she did that day. She passed other various pictures as well, some of her family, Sasuke, Naruto, her other friends, and etc. If only she had stopped to look, she might have noticed something out of the ordinary, in the reflection. The small movement in the moonlight.

She changed into a pair of black pants, or really capris if you want to call them it, and then a crimson top, the plain white circle on her back, that hugged her form slightly, the sleeves reaching just below her elbows. Her bare feet didn't make a sound as she padded accross the floor, heading toward's her living room. When she reached her destination she flipped on a switch and glanced around the room. Just as she left it, a scroll here and there, books scattered on a desk with even more scrolls, a T.V., her phone, and her all time favorite forest green couch. Plopping down she grabbed the first scroll she saw and opened it. It was about one of her patients, still a mystery case as he had a multitue of strange varieties of symptoms. Getting up she moved to her desk and began hauling books to her coffee table. _Why are medical books always so damn heavy..._

After setting down the last stack Sakura heard the screech of the tea pot and smiled at it's impecible timing. Heading into the kitchen she returned back to her work zone minutes later with a steaming cup of tea. Setting it down she took her spot on the couch once more and began to stare at the papers laid out infront of her. Everynow and then, between reading a new bit of information, or a section from a book she would sip the hot liquid, savoring it's taste. She worked well into the night before passing out on her couch from exhaustion, a book laid accross her stomach while an empty tea cup lay forgotten on the floor.


	2. A Game of Go

Disclamer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago.

Full Summary (Note: Tite may and probably will change):

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura dissappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf take the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

Lemme know what you guys think, I know it's a pretty bad summary, but from taking enough english tests in my past years i've learned that summarizing things is not my cup of tea... So bear with me.. heh. Also you can see i'm not that strong in the naming area either... goodness knows what the enemies names will be, God help.

Author's Note: Be kind.. very first story. Oh.. and I need to find a Beta reader... if anyone is interested, lemme know.

**Chapter 2**

The light reflected off her emerald colored eyes as they snapped open. She was sitting straight up, scanning her living room looking for the source of the sound that woke her. She couldn't sense any chakra, and any shinobis worth their salt had sharp eyes and yet she didn't see anything. Looking down she saw the tea cup, and next to it lay something out of place, a book. She recognized it as the one she remebered reading last, and when looking at her lap she found no book resting upon it.

_'It was just a book, Sakura. Pull yourself together. Geez... Why am I so paranoid?'_

She closed her eyes and began to rub her palms against her face in the attempt to wake herself up more as the adrenaline rush began to subside. Getting up off the couch she reached down and picked up the tea cup, going into the kitchen to wash it quickly, along with the kettle. It was a reutine now for her to always have a cup of tea before bed, she just couldn't not have one. Sakura was hooked.

After finishing the brain-dead chore she left for her bathroom to go through her ritual of personal hygene. Quickly changing into a pair of black pants, and a crimson top with the famous circle imprinted on back. Under it she had a long sleeved black shirt, no way in hell she would walk out in this weather in a tank top. She yawned as she lazily walked back into the living room, running a hand through shoulder length rosette locks. She found herself staring intently at the pig calender she had posted up next to her many hanging photos. Shikamaru had once asked her why she bought it and why not somethign like clouds, and seeing as how Ino was sitting next to him she just grinned and looked at her best friend. "They just looked so much like Ino-pig, I couldn't resist." That had resulted in a loud "Forehead-girl!" and a very intent death glare contest.

Locating the date she couldn't resist the "hell yeah" that erupted from her throat. A lovely well deserved day off. She loved working at the hospital and going on missions, but who doesn't enjoy a day of doing absolutly nothing except wander around and collect their thoughts? Skimming over the other contents in the box she found she had a shopping date with Ino, and she had promised a game of Go with Shikamaru, but the rest of the afternoon was her own.

Grabbing her keys that had still been laying on her kitchen table she slipped on a coat and headed out the door, crinkling her nose at the burst of cold. Locking the hunk of wood behind her she slipped the keys and her hands into the warmth of her pockets and trotted down the steps. She couldn't help but just be in a good mood, almost having that annoying bounce in her step. It wasn't long until she found herself in the market, leaning against a wall waiting for the pig to show.

"Oi! Forehead girl!" Ino was running towards her, waving dragging a very irratated Tenten along with her. Sakura just laughed at her friends' antics before pushing off the wall and making the move to meet them half way, hoping to make Ino's life-span a little longer judging from the murderous look in Tenten's amber eyes.

"Don't pull Tenten's arm out of the socket, she along with a few others would beat you to a pulp if you messed with that throwing arm." She smiled at the two as Ino let go of Tenten, apologizing before turning back to Sakura.

"Guess what?! You'll never believe what Shikamaru did!" Ino was practically jumping up and down, clasping her gloved hands together in anticipation, it was almost as if she wasn't going to give med-nin a chance to answer. Tenten just rolled her eyes at the blonde though, _I think the whole village already knows..._

"So he finally did it, huh, I was wondering when he would get the guts, I helped him pick out that ring a month ago." Grinning, Sakura watched as Ino's expression immediatly changed into pure shock, her mouth hanging agape just adding to the effect.

"WHAT?! AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THIS WHY?!" Ino's voice had reached that annoying high pitched squeal, the kind that could seriously damage someone's ear drums worse than any sound shinobi.

Sakura just shrugged though, making a move past the two girls to head to the first shop. "He made me promise not to say anything, I mean.. it's kind of the guy's job to propose... the best friend shouldn't be proposing for the guy, that would show he was a sissy-boy." She looked back at over her shoulder and smiled. "Plus, it was worth it, that look on your face is priceless." Giggling she headed into the first shop, hearing a "SAKURA!" and footsteps right behind.

O.oo.O

"I knew you were lazy Shikamaru, but I was beginning to worry that after picking out the ring so long ago you lost your nerve." She smirked up at her opponent as she stratigically moved a peice on the Go board. "I thought 'Gee, maybe Shikamaru's finally sober again.'" She giggled at his twitching eyebrow as he muttered his famous "troublesome" and concentrated on the board.

Taking another drag of his cigarrette he reached out and moved a peice before glancing up to the nineteen year old girl sitting accross from him. "She wouldn't stop talking for me long enough to get in a sentence, let alone two words." He scowled at the memory of finally, after many interruptions, he finally let his frustration go.

_Slapping a hand to Ino's mouth he waved the ring infront of her face. "If you want it, you gotta be quiet for two minutes!" She could only stare at him, her teal eyes wide in shock. She just nodded though as Shikamaru removed his hand from her face and placed the ring on her finger. He sighed in contentment at the long awaited silence, but his resolution was shattered as he was tackled. _

_"Yes, Shikamaru! I love you so much." She began to kiss him, covering every square inch of his face. "I'm so happy, we'll start planning right away, and we'll have to invite everyone, Sakura can be the bride's maid, and Hinata and Tenten ca-" She was cut short as the hand that was previously clamping her mouth shut had returned. She grinned sheepishly behind his palm before removing it and muttering a quiet "gomen Shika-kun." She gently pressed her lips against his then, showing her thanks and enthusiasm of entire ordeal in a much quieter way._

"You love her though, or you wouldn't sit through that torture." Sakura quickly moved another peice as she watched the shadow user for a response. She was dissappointed as he did nothing except move another peice. "You get to live with that for the rest of your days, good luck."

"I think I've found new respect in Sasuke. I don't see how he puts up with _you_." Shikamaru smirked at the now open mouthed girl who was staring at him with wide emerald eyes.

"I can't believe you would say that. Sasuke-kun doesn't have to put up with anything that he doesn't want to, unlike Ino, who has to endure your lazy ass 'troublesomeness'." She quickly moved the last peice and raised her hand in the victory sign. "You lose!" She giggled and made the move to stand up until the pineapple shaped head began to shake. He reached out and moved a different peice, then gave a coy little smile at Sakura.

"I win." He stood up then, moving around the table and placing a platonic kiss ontop of the rosette head. "Same time tomorrow?" He headed towards the door to go inside, stopping to but out his cigarrette before turning to Sakura, waiting an answer.

"Hai... but my relationship is more compatible then yours still!" She pointed a finger at him as if to emphasize her point before turning to the board to began to pick up the peices that had betrayed her so. She heard a "Better luck next time, see ya tomorrow," come from the boy before she heard the soft sliding of the door. Pushing the game into it's resting place she rebundled herself back into her coat, making her way back towards her home. It was getting late and she was tired, being interrigated all day on how long she knew about Shikamaru's plans, and then playing best two out of three with the said boy did that to a girl.

Reaching her door she unlocked the door, pushing inside and lockig it quickly behind her. She always loved coming home, it was just so inviting. Something seemed different though, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Shrugging it off she put her jacket away, went into the kitchen and began her ritual of making tea before leaving for her bedroom to change. She later emerged in a pair of black shorts and a navy blue tank top, Sasuke's scarf once more wrapped securly around her neck. The dark colors she wore deeply contrasted with her pale skin, pink hair, and apple eyes, but whenever Sasuke was gone on a mission she found dressing this way was the next best thing to have him actually there, he never wore anything besides black or a dark shade of blue. She loved making fun of him for it to.

On her way back to the kitchen she stopped, letting herself get carried away as she found herself staring out the window as a new blanket of snow fell from the sky. It brought back a memory back that she wasn't sure if she liked or not, it was confusing. It had been snowing like this though on the day of her first kiss, she could even see the spot where it happened, out in the middle of the road infront of her house.

_Sakura walked as quickly as she could without making it appear she was trying to get away from the two males that walked on either side of her. She never knew why Sai and Sasuke hated each other, but she did know that they were glaring over the top of her head at face that resembled their own so much. Once she reached her door she resisted the urdge to hug and kiss it before she turned to the two still glaring men. She beamed at them before waving a good bye. _

_"Uh, I'm home now, thank you both for walking with me, see you tomorrow." They both just stared at her, as if waiting for either her to go in, or the other emotionally challenged male to back off and go away. Sakura knew they were both too stubborn to do the latter, so it would be up to her to be the bigger person. Smiling she gave a nervous laugh before opening her door and going inside. She could only set her keys down and take off her shoes and jacket before she heard a crash outside._

_Rushing back out into the cold she was perplexed by what she saw. Sasuke seemed to have lost his mind, throwing blind punches to a smirking Sai who was obviously having a hard enough time just dodging them. If Sasuke calmed down and actually concentrated, the artist was done for. _

_"SASUKE-KUN! STOP!" She was off the porch before it even registered that her bare feet were crunching in the freezing snow, her bare arms covered in goosebumps. The two boys didn't seem to notice her presences as they continued to fight, or rather Sasuke fight and Sai dodge, but they noticed in the next couple of minutes all to well. _

_'Oh my God...' **'Ew ew ew ew ew ew EWWW! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING SAKURA, GET OFF OF HIM NOW!'** Inner Sakura was screaming at the top of her lungs, trying to get through to her outter self to move her ass! In her attempt to stop the two she had tripped at the last second, tumbling into Sai, a split-second after hitting the ground their lips crashing together. That seemed to stop Sasuke's attack, but all three were shocked into paralasis. _

_Sakura just stared wide-eyed at the two onyx pools infront of her, who were widly staring back, while Sasuke just stood there trying to figure out if he was in a genjutsu or not. Sakura was the first to recover though, finally hearing her inner self cries of self loathing, jumping back to ungracefully fall onto her butt in a large pile of snow, quickly standing up trying to collect whatever dignity she had left, which she doubted was any. Daring to take a look at the Uchiha she found him giving one of the deadliest glares she had ever seen to the ROOT member, who was still staring at Sakura from a propped up position on the ground. _

_Sasuke just turned on his heel and left, shoving his hands in his pockets. He ignored the whispered "Sasuke-kun," obviously pissed at the sitaution but trying to keep up his stotic facade. He was an Uchiha, Uchiha's did not get jealous... they got revenge. Two weeks later, the Sharingan user got a hell of a lot more than an accidental kiss._

She jumped when she heard the screech of the kettle. How she loved the silver pot, it was like it could read her mind on when to be done and when not to be. She didn't know what she would do if it ever broke.

Heading towards the kitchen she picked up a medical book on the way, flipping it to a page she marked to pick up her reading once more. As soon as her eyes skimmed the page and found the word she left off on her foot touched the cold tile, and she noticed the lighting change. _Lighting change? What?_ It didn't take her not even a second to react as she dropped the book and got into a fighting stance, her eyes following the shadow to one of the three standing foreign shinobi in the room. One of those three were touching HER kettle, making tea in HER cup! _WHAT THE HELL?!_ After that shinobi finished, he handed it to the one sitting at HER table.

"I don't ever remeber inviting you in. What the hell do you want, and why the hell are you drinking my tea?" She narrowed her eyes as the man drinking her well earned tea chuckled. He took a sip before glancing up at her with ice blue eyes that made her involuntarily shiver. He set the tea down before looking at her and smiling a wicked smile.

The shinobi to her left came at her and she ducked under his rather large fist, sending her own into his gut, releasing a spurt of chakra sending him flying back into her cabinet, crushing it under his bulky weight. The second on her right seemed to be faster though, swiping a kick before she could even turn around, knocking her legs out from under her. Outstretching her hand she preformed a one-armed hand stand, changing the unnatural balence to her favor as she flipped, landing behind the enemy. She gratefully returned the kick, making contact with his head. The body turned into her trashcan as it collided with the wall, but this time she was ready for him as she moved forward, dodging the kick that was aimed for her back.

She smirked as she hit the ground beneath her, sending a crack towards him, making him stumble. She would regret that later, she knew it, making that foundation even again was going to be hell. She took the opportunity though, lunged towards him, punching him square in the face, sending the now lifeless body through a wall. She turned on the last two shinobi, the only remaining standing one smirking at her evily. She stared at him confused before looking at the other. The moment her eyes connected with the glacier orbs she just stared, caught in a trance. The next thing she knew her world was going black and she was falling. She never even realized the man's hand was in the form of a hand seal, the only thing she could remeber was his terrifying eyes.


	3. Why are you Sober?

Disclamer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago.

Full Summary (Note: Tite may and probably will change):

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura dissappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf take the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

Lemme know what you guys think, I know it's a pretty bad summary, but from taking enough english tests in my past years i've learned that summarizing things is not my cup of tea... So bear with me.. heh. Also you can see i'm not that strong in the naming area either... goodness knows what the enemies names will be, God help.

Author's Note: Be kind.. very first story. Oh.. and I need to find a Beta reader... if anyone is interested, lemme know.

**Chapter 3**

"Why are you Sober?"

Beads of sweat gathered on his forehead and he continued to trudge on, tree to tree. His ANBU mask was still in place though, despite the heat produced by his heavy breathing despite the air around him, which the dobe he recalled mumbled something about it 'being as cold as the teme's heart.' The trip wasn't that long, just about five hours or so, but they were coming up to that final hour and they hadn't paused for a breather once. They had each agreed that they wouldn't stop until they got to Konoha, there mission had been a pointless waste of time. They found nothing, not even the remains of a camp, and they had searched for three days.

Sasuke felt relief wash through him when he saw the top of the gates to the Leaf breach the horizon. He could see her face in his mind and it softened his onyx eyes slightly, just knowing she was there waiting gave him all the more reason to pick up his pace. He knew it wouldn't matter though, the team had to all be in Tsunade's office first to offer their report before anything else. He could only curse at their just above average pace.

"Oi, she's still gonna be there Chicken-head." Sasuke glanced back at the artist who obviously had a death wish. He never liked that idiot, even before he stole Sakura's first kiss, something about the ROOT member's calm expression made the sole survivor want to grab the first object in his path and stab it constantly without mercy, he irked him that bad.

Sasuke turned away though, concentrating on the gates that grew in size with each passing moment. The few minutes it took before he was walking through them felt like years though, he just wanted to see her, he would be dead before he admited it to anyone, but he did want to see her. He was Sakura's boyfriend for crying out loud, he was entitled to it, it wasn't that big of a shocker.

When they finally arrived at Tsunade's office, the sight they were greeted with left them all with wide eyes and a few gaping mouths, and this was the group that was for the most part rumored to be made up with cyborgs. In the corner there were neat and organized stacks of papers, on the Hokage's desk and on the floor in the general area the sake bottles were absent. The only thing on the infamous medical ninja's desk were the usual nic nacs, and a file, papers from the said folder strewn about in a very organized and precise manner. The only things that resembled Tsunade herself was the dust bunnies and Tsunade herself. Shizune, along with a few other various Jounin and ANBU hovered over the Hokage, staring at the file but there was no nagging from the usually frustrated assistant, and no words from the other shinobi. It was silent except for their breathing. It had to be genjutsu, even Naruto thought so by going as far as muttering "Kai" while making the hand sign needed.

"Baa-chan? Why are you sober?" Leave it to the village idiot to ask the appropriate questions. That did cause Tsunade to glance up just in time to see Hinata hit Naruto lightly on the arm, but instead of a look of 'search and destroy' the woman looked like she was about to cry, the dark bags under her eyes showing the lack of sleep.

"You're back." She looked down then stood up turning to the other Jounin and ANBU in the room. "Please, if you will." They each nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke with the exception of Shizune, who headed out the door. Tsunade turned to gaze at the other five occupants of the room and her amber eyes only softened. "I'm sorry to inform you that something terrible happened while you were on your mission. A talented shinobi has been kidnapped. There were two dead bodies in her home but by the amount of blood we are not completly sure if any of it belongs to the kunoichi or not. There is a possiblity she is dead as well or is at least dying. We are going to search for her though, and each of you will be needed.."

As Tsunade droned on, Sasuke couldn't help but notice her eyes glance towards him and Naruto more than the other three. That definatly was not comforting, but he also noted how she continuously seemed to get farther and farther away from saying who the said kunoichi actually was. The raven haired man lifted up his mask to get a better look at the woman's body language. She was shaking, so she was obviously close to the stolen person, not a good sign, she was concentrating on finding this person more than drinking, not a good sign. Lastly and probably the biggest beacon of bad news, as the dobe said, she was sober, that was probably the redest flag of them all.

"Just tell us who it is already." Sasuke's voice was annoyed and low, as if he was willing the Hokage not to say Sakura. His attempts at mental powers were unsuccessful as she muttered the name that caused a stir of reactions. Neji's eyes grew wide and his fists clenched, Hinata let out a gasp as tears began to well up in her eyes, Sai suddenly found the floor interesting, while Naruto let out a very angry "WHAT THE HELL?!" and punched the wall. Sasuke though seemed to slip into his own little hole of a world again. It was as if Itatchi came back to life along with his entire clan and remurdered them. His eyes grew dark and cold, his face falling into an expression void of emotion.

It seemed Tsunade was watching for his reaction though, but she was going to get nothing. Shoving his hands in his pockets he left the office without another word, he was going to figure out what happened, then find where she was and make whoever kidnapped her wish they were in hell because whatever he was going to do to them would be much, much worse. They had done the worst thing to him by taking her away exactly what Itatchi had done twelve years ago when he was seven, they had caused his entile world to shatter in mere seconds.

O.oo.O

Emerald eyes fluttered open slowly. Sakura felt drugged, but she knew she was still breathing, the pain her body was feeling was telling her that. The headache though started her string of thoughts.

_Did I finally cave and have that drinking contest with Tsunade-shishou? No, I didn't see her yesterday... I shopped with Ino, she showed me her ring than ranted about how I never told her. Then I went with Ino and Tenten to get lunch and we ate with Chouji at the BBQ place... What was next. Ah, Shikamaru, we played Go.. jerk won, again. I haven't beat him the past three times I've played him.. I must be hanging out with Naruto to much, all that ramen is killing my brain cells. What was next, I remeber it was really cold, geez, it's cold now. Then I went home and worked a little, and I had my tea before I went to... wait, I never had my tea._

Her half lidded gaze flew wide open then, as realization dawned on her and the fights she had the previous night took account in her mind. She looked down to realize the scarf was still there, albeit was a little ruffled, but she realized why she was cold, she was only in shorts and a tank top. Damn it, the first night she didn't dress warmly she gets kidnapped by a bundle of bakas! A few strands of rosette hair fell across her face, and all her attempts to blow them out of the way failed miserably. She made a move to just move them, but her hands wouldn't budge. She looked up above her head to find out they were shackled by chakra strings, that just brightened up everything.

Sakura just gave an annoyed glare at the strings, tugging on them a bit to see if there was a weakness, but she had no such luck. Letting out a scoff she looked down at her bare feet to find them in the same bind. This was just peachy keen. Growling out a few mumbles about how she was seriously going to gouge out someone's eyes she began to take in her surroundings. Brick walls, check, brick ceiling, check, brick floor, check, big iron door, check, yep, dungeon. Shackles here and there, check, rats, check, her reflection, check, icky disgusting blob which she decided she didn't want to know what it was, check, wait a second, her reflection?

Sakura turned her attention back to the gigantic mirror that hung across from her. _Great, now they gotta watch me... sick, twisted people. _She stared at herself for a few moments, she had been fighting right? Where were the scatches, she looked in better than new condition despite the fact she was hanging from a wall by her wrists, she really did look just dandy. Narrowing her gaze at herself, her nose twitched a few times along with her eyebrow before she said in a very low, dangerous, yet sing song voice.

"Oi, you wanna let me go now so I can rip out your intestines and choke you with them."

Author's Notes:

I was gonna keep going, but I haven't updated in awhile, and I thought a nice little threat from a very agitated Sakura would be a good ending point. Sorry it's kinda short though.. I'm going to make them longer, but it will probably be like this until I get farther into the story, where the action begins. Herm.. I'm looking for a Beta reader as you read above, so please someone, help the new girl .

Herm.. speaking about being new, I haven't gotten a lot of reviews for this story and i'm wondering if I should continue or not? Don't make me cry and never even answer the question, just lemme know your opinions. I put Sasuke in this chapter... I really hope he's not OOC, I tried my best. Anyways, that little Go button in the corner is lonely, it wants to be pushed!

Thanks for reading .


	4. Battle Tactics Perverts and Ear Plugs?

I haven't updated in a long time! I'm so sorry! I know there is no excuse for you guys, but I gotta apologize. I've been having major writer's block lately and school has just been... rawr. Also my computer broke! It's still no fixed either! I had to go and steal a computer from my brother and hook it up so I could write... it's crazy.

Disclamer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago and there wouldn't be so many damn fillers!

Full Summary:

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura dissappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf take the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

Lemme know what you guys think, I know it's a pretty bad summary, but from taking enough english tests in my past years i've learned that summarizing things is not my cup of tea... So bear with me.. heh. Also you can see i'm not that strong in the naming area either... goodness knows what the enemies names will be, God help.

Author's Note: Be kind.. very first story. Oh.. and I need to find a Beta reader... if anyone is interested, lemme know.

Oh, and I wanna dedicate this chapter to XXDragonheart6XX and Blackblossom93. You guys encouraged me to write somemore. Thanks for the awesome reviews! They made me smile -

**Chapter 4**

Battle Tactics, Perverts, and... Ear Plugs?

The news of Sakura wasn't exactly terrible news to Konoha. It was downright chaotic. Sasuke hadn't been in the Hidden Leaf village for more than an hour before he set off again in a group that consisted of Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten, Sai, and himself. They were supposed to head back to the border, where the last attacks had been reported, and work from there.

Tsunade had strategized with Kakashi and Shikamaru about battle tactics and strategies. Three groups of three, team one being the main scout team, who also had to be prepared to fight if there was an ambush contained Neji, Tenten, and Hinata. The second team was to back up the first and ambush any ambushers, then pursue on while team one kept look out. Team two consisted of Shikamaru, Ino, and Sai. Team three were the ones to hold back until team one was on look out, to conserve energy, then follow up team two until the coast was for the most part clear and they would go in and snatch Sakura away and introduce whoever it was that thought stealing the medic in the first place was a good idea, to Satan himself. Each team no doubt wanted to be the one to put the enemy shinobi in an early grave, but it was sort of a mutual understanding between them all that Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke should be the ones to do it.

O.oo.O

"We should stop here for the night." Shikamaru had been holding off calling a stopping point for the night, despite his lazy antics he was one of the handful that were slightly more pissed than others at this whole situation. Over many games of Shoji and Go he had grown close to the coral haired girl. As fate would have it, she had a personality that drew in the moths to the flame, and he found himself attatched.

Sakura had been the one who taught him how to actually deal with the bombshell known as Yamanaka Ino. He never knew that the cheapest birthday gift in his entire life would be the thing he cherished the most.

_His girlfriend of two weeks sat on his left, Ino watching intently as Shikamaru tore into his gift. Or rather untaped it as he sluggishly peeled the paper away from the box. He smiled as he opened the box to pull out a small pillow, something that would easily fit into a mission pack. He poked at it and smirked before turning to his best friend, who sat on his right in the BBQ booth. _

_"Thanks Choji." He set the asset to all lazyness aside and moved on to the next gift, something he assumed was from Naruto seeing it was so poorly wrapped. Said boy was sitting next to the suspiciously smirking Sakura, who sat inbetween the ramen lover and the bored looking Uchiha across the table. The rest of Rookie nine and Gai's team, along with a few other Konoha Shinobi were gathered 'round, waiting for the birthday boy to proceed._

_Upon opening the Uzumaki surprize he found something that made him blush slightly. When Ino looked inside her eyes buldged and her fury was directed at the kyuubi container._

_"BAKA! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! HENTAI! HENTAI! HENTAI!" If it wasn't for a burner on the table she would of crawled acrossed it and strangled the blonde, but instead she ripped the box out of Shikamaru's hands and through it at him, nailing him in the head. The famous orange book fell out, landing on the BBQ griller, catching aflame. _

_"Itai! Kakashi and Ero-Sannin said it would be a good idea and he would be needing it soon!" You could hear a crash on the other side of the room, Kakashi and Jirarya having fallen out of their seats, before standing with as much dignity as possible in the quickest manner. They received a death glare and a few obscene gestures from the entire Yamanaka and Nara family present._

_After the small commotion, the shadow user moved onto the next gift, one from Sasuke, he figured Sakura probably forced the sharingan user to get him one. A large box of new kunai.. how... Sasuke-ish. "Thanks Uchiha." He received a grunt in return and head Ino mutter something about "sadistic" and "theropy." It earned her a glare from the raven head._

_Next up was the copy-nin, and that made the new couple blush even more. Shikamaru immediatly closed the box and gave it to Ino who just stared at it. "WHAT THE HELL?!" She glared at the ex-ANBU. How dare he give such a suggesting gift. How dare he! Ino made the mental note to destroy the book store next time she passed by._

_Shikamaru let out a breath of relief though as Sakura smiled and held her gift out to him across the table. He took it, knowing she was probably the most intact with her brain and actually had the instructions on how to use it in Team Seven. He cautiously removed the tissue paper from the bag, better safe than sorry, and could only raise his eyebrow at the simple yet odd gift inside. Pulling out the ear plugs he continued staring before looking across the table at the still grinning girl. When he opened his mouth to question her, Ino beat him to it._

_"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOREHEAD-GIRL?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT A RESPECTABLE GIFT IS?!" As he looked up at the yelling blonde who had furouciously stood from her seat understanding finally dawned on him._

_"INO-PIG! I BOUGHT THOSE FOR HIM BECAUSE I ACTUALLY WORRY ABOUT HIS HEALTH! HE'S GOING TO BE NEEDING THOSE IF HE PLANS TO DATE YOU!" Shikamaru would have to thank Sakura later. He simply let out a sigh of relief when he slipped the plugs in his ears. Silent bliss granted him, it was definatly the best present he ever got._

Thinking back on that particular birthday, he regretted stopping the team despite the fact he had gotten death glares and protests from almost everyone. Shikamaru let out a sigh and gently massaged his temple as he walked into the clearing, tossing his pack on the ground.

O.oo.O

She had been waiting for hours, and she began to ponder on the thought someone had just tied her up in this dungeon and left her to die. Every few hours or so she would glare at the door, attempting to will it open. All Sakura wanted was answers, and to gouge someone's eyes out, but that was beside the point.

The door creaked open, causing emerald eyes to snap in the direction of the sound. She was greeted by a rather skinny man, and after a moment of contemplation, realization hit her. She glowered at him, the man who dare touched her precious tea pot and gave the beverage to the other man. _Ice blue eyes... they were colder than Sasuke's_. She felt a tremor involuntarily crawl up her spine, causing the chakra strings that bound her to tighten slightly. **He's that teme that touched our tea kettle!** Inner Sakura was yelling in her head, listing off numerous ways she could strangle the scrawny tea theif's neck.

"Ah, I see you're awake. My captian will be glad to hear it. You know you're heavy for a girl your size, I had to carry you all the way here and you were nothing but dead weight." Sakura glared, the kettle was strike one, but that little comment put him up to strike gazillion. He was a dead man.

"Why am I here?" Sakura continued to glare, her hands balling into fists in their chakra bindings.

"Oh you were so fiesty earlier. If I remeber correctly you wanted to strangle someone with their intestines, or something of the sorts." He chuckled slightly as he crossed his arms giving a rather disturbing grin as he gazed at her through pale green eyes. He wasn't even the least bit intimidating, just... '_creepy_.' Sakura glanced back at the mirror on the other side of the room after thinking about what he said, her suspicions being confirmed. _'...Perverts._' It was a two way mirror.

"Well as much as I enjoy cursing you to death, I want to know why i'm doing it. So why am I here? And what did you do to me?" Her gaze flicked back towards the heavy metal door as it screeched once more, and a sound of a rolling cart filled the room. She felt her breathing hitch in her throat, choking her slightly as the blue eyed man rolled along side the other man in his wheelchair. Despite his week persona, his eyes held power. She felt a wave of fear take over, nothing comparing to what she felt in her genin days during her first encounter with the long dead snake Sannin.

"Sakura-san, Sakura-san. You're a smart one, so you should know we either want you A. You are the apprentice of the Hokage we want info on the Leaf. B. You're an talented medic-nin. Or C. Both." The man in the wheelchair was being pushed by a young girl, probably no older than eight, who poked her head out from behind the man and stared at Sakura intently. She had brunette hair, a few strands falling infront of her round face, and radiant blue eyes that reminded her so much of Naruto. "We know about you're pathetic village enough as is, so that only leaves you with once choice." The wheelchair bound man rose his head, ice blue eyes piercing through Sakura, sending involuntary shivers down her spine.

"You!" She glowered at him, a feeling of unwanted intimidation overcoming her features as she backed into the cold stone behind her, almost wishing she could seep into the rock wall. The man must of sensed her uneasyness though, letting out a laugh that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.

"Yes Sakura-san. Me!" He mocked her as he crossed his arms, giving her a smirk that said he was the superior authority. "I need you to heal me. I have a disease that Ryo-san here can't seem to put his finger on, so we figured we should take some extreme measures before I begin to climb into an early grave."

"Why the hell would the thought of helping you even enter my mind?" She raised an eyebrow at him her expression obviously showing her hate and detestment of the two men infront of her.

"We'll torture you. By the lack of scars on your body I doubt that's ever happened to you before, so it should be a rather eye opening experience. Persuasive as well." Ryo continued to grin as he looked at the man beside him. "Captian sir, I think we should get going, it's time for your shots." The handicapped man let out a grunt as he slouched in his chair.

"Hai, hai. I bid you farewell for now Sakura-san. Oi, Mina-chan." He turned in his chair, facing the chestnut-haired girl as she looked up at him innocently. "Why don't you bring Sakura-san some food, I'm sure she's hungry." He patted her head softly before turning to Ryo. "Let's get this over with, yeah?"

Ryo took the young girl's spot in pushing the chair and waved the girl off, who immediatly took off into the other room in order to fill the 'Captian's' request.

"Sakura-san." She looked back up at him, her eyes widening at the icy eyes that held such a serious and threatening gaze. "I'm going to be generous and give you until dawn to decide. If your answer is still 'no', we'll have to resort to rather disturbing measures that I would just prefer not go to and waste time, I would hate to half to scar you for life, you seem so pure. Ja." As Ryo turned the man away and left the room, Sakura let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding, her body shaking uncontrollably. The effect that man had on her was something that scared her to the very core. It was his eyes though. When she stared at those frozen pools, all she saw was...

Her voice came out in only a gasping whisper, "Death."

O.oo.O

**A/N:** Hey you guys! Sorry again it's taken me so long to update, I feel terrible about it! Really! Anyways though, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even if it was a a little bit of a boring filler... the next chapter should have a bit of violence and gore in it though... and you just might see Ino's first breakdown... it will either be extremly pathetic or hopefully if I can write it right, hilarious. We'll just have to see right?

Well I'm off and I'll try and update a lot sooner this time! I love anyone who at least takes the time to read this, but only the people that review will get a pickle! So press that little grey 'Go' button, it's needs to be pushed!

Thank you! Bye -


	5. I NEED FLOWERS!

Disclamer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago and there wouldn't be so many damn fillers!

Full Summary:

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura dissappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf take the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

Lemme know what you guys think, I know it's a pretty bad summary, but from taking enough english tests in my past years i've learned that summarizing things is not my cup of tea... So bear with me.. heh. Also you can see i'm not that strong in the naming area either... goodness knows what the enemies names will be, God help.

**Chapter 5**

I NEED FLOWERS!!!

Sleeping wasn't optional, she knew that, but the fact that she kept zoning out wasn't helping. She would find herself filled with taboo thoughts such as what torture would be like, or how bad it was going to hurt. When Ryo had made the assumption about her never going through such a horrible event, he couldn't of been more right. The medic-nin Sannin Jr. was so lost in her own mind, she never even heard the door open slightly, or the tapping of the ninja shoes.

A clanging noise brought her from her dark thoughts and she instantly snapped her gaze to the brunette infront of her. She found the Naruto-like eyes so captivating on the little girl. Their eyes locked for a moment and the little girl seemed to be frozen in time, Sakura began to wonder if she was even breathing.

"Are you alright?" Sakura gave the girl a questioning look, waiting for her response. It was then she realized Mina's reason for being there, sighting the silver tray that was decorated with a small bowl of rice and a mug of water. **'They could at least repay us for our lost tea! Those manipulating half-wits!'** Sakura inwardly smirked at her Inner self's antics, for once she had to agree with the firecracker inside.

The eight year old continued to stare at the older girl infront of her in slight awe. Sakura began contemplating if the youngling could possibly be mute, but all doubts were erased when she heard a soft, yet high-pitched voice.

"You're weird."

Sakura couldn't resist the urdge to sweatdrop slightly. How could she not pass off as weird though, especially to an eight year old. She had pink hair, a slightly oversized forehead, and in the dead of winter she was wearing a tanktop and shorts with a random scarf with no shoes.

"I guess you could say that." Sakura let out a soft laugh, Mina's reaction being the lifting of a fine brown eyebrow. Her head tilting to the left, reminding Sakura of a small puppy. This caused her to only laugh a little more.

"Why are you laughing?" As the medic-nin's laughter faded she let out a sigh before giving a slightly bitter smile.

"I don't know. I'm sitting here bound to a wall and a girl comes up to me and calls me weird. Would you rather me cry?"

"No, no, no!" Little hands flew up in the air, her arms flailing about. It was if Mina was trying to slap away something negative, something that dare taint the air between herself and Sakura. "I don't want the pretty lady to cry! Um... food! Here's your food!" She bent down and scooted the tray closer to the prisoner. Sakura opened her mouth to voice her thanks, but the words seemed to die in her throat at the sight waiting on the other side of the room.

"Mina, it's rude to annoy people while they are about to eat." The girl jumped and turned immediatly, facing Ryo. Sakura noticed how the girl trembled slightly, even going so far as backing away towards Sakura to the point where she was a breath's length apart.

"You have no right to talk about manners. You stole my tea and had no courtesy to replace it. Shame on you." Sakura smirked at the man, inwardly cringing at the sight of his smile, he seriously freaked her out.

"Deepest apologies, but we don't tend to spoil our prisoners. Now, if you agree to heal Ichiro-taii-san, I think we can come to a negotiation." Sakura let out a very ungraceful snort as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'll go without." She glared before looking down at the cowering girl infront of her. "Mina-chan." The sight of those blue eyes filled with a slight fear made her breath hitch in her throat. She wasn't used to seeing a look like that in blue eyes, it was usually cocky and over confident when it came to the only other person she had seen with such ocean depth orbs. None the less though, Sakura smiled at the girl, a gentle glaze coating her emerald eyes. "Arigato."

The girl nodded before getting up and dashing out of the room, brunette locks trailing after her in a long mass. The moment the door had swung shut Sakura looked back at the male occupant of the room and continued to glower.

"I have to be running Sakura-chan, I was just wondering if you had made you're decision yet. You still have an hour or so, so just enjoy you're food." '**If he smiles like that again we gotta cut his lips off!**' Ryo dissappeared through the door leaving Sakura alone in the dungeon once more. Ever since this little delay in her tea drinking, being kidnapped and all, she found herself agreeing with the sadist inside a lot more than usual...

O.oo.O

With each passing wail of a certain blonde everyone seemed to have found themselves grabbing a kunai and sharpening it rather violently. It all started right after dinner, Sasuke, Kakashi, Neji, and Shikamaru had been hovering over a map, trying to figure out a path to take. Naruto was already asleep, his head in Hinata's lap where she in turn was staring at the sky her thoughts filled with worry over the boy resting in her lap, for one he had been silent the majority of the way and if he did talk it was usually him snapping at someone, and two he didn't request ramen for dinner, he just ate the food handed to him no questions asked. The conclusion Hinata came up with was, without Sakura, Naruto would slowly crash into normality which would slowly tear down all of his bonds which in turn would affect all of Konoha as relationships would surely change. Without Naruto's unpredictableness idiocy, Konoha change into some odd and rather dull alternate land and the world everyone knew would end.

Sai was sitting on the spot of ground he claimed sleeping rights on sketching away in his book of mysteries. Tenten had figured she would be a good friend and get Ino's mind off the missing kunoichi and instead maybe help her with a few wedding plans. The idea started out smoothly, Tenten only taking baby steps, like choosing the reception location, that being the BBQ resturant where the Ino-Shika-Cho crew usually wound down after missions. The next hurdle was flowers. That was the point where Ino snapped.

"THIS ISN'T RIGHT!" The sudden outburst caused her fellow comrades to turn their attention towards the now standing bride-to-be and poor Tenten who had fallen off the stump she had been sitting on in shock. The only exception was a still sleeping Naruto. "The MAID OF HONOR is supposed to help with the flowers! Are YOU the maid of honor?! I don't friggin' THINK so! My maid of honor is Sakura! Ha-ru-no Sa-ku-ra! FOREHEAD-GIRL!"

"I was only trying to help!" Tenten was now standing, still slightly bewildered at the rants of the other girl but she still held her ground. Indimidation was not a factor with either of the women.

"WELL DON'T! IF YOU'RE TRYING TO HELP ME YOU THINK SAKURA WON'T COME BACK! Oh Kami-sama... You don't think she's coming back. YOU'RE TRYING TO REPLACE HER!" That's where the first finger was pointed and the rants began, Ino didn't even give Tenten a chance to retaliate.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO REPLACE HER, SHE'S MY MADE OF HONOR AND THAT'S THAT! She's going to pick my flowers, and if we don't have flowers... then... then.." She glanced at Shikamaru, the second finger pointed. "THEN WE AREN'T GETTING MARRIED! You can't have a wedding without flowers, it's untraditional, and this wedding is going to be right! If the wedding isn't right then our life won't be right! Our kids would be abnormal and would grow up disfunctional because our marriage wouldn't be right because we wouldn't get along because we didn't have the right wedding because Sakura wasn't there to chose MY DAMN FLOWERS! Do you want our kids to grow up like that Nara! HUH?! I'll kill you before-"

As the blonde continued yelling about flowers and how screwed up their kids would be Sasuke began to fume as he looked across the map at the shadow weilder. "Shut her up or I will." The glare Sasuke was sporting was more threatening than usual.

"Woman! You're going to bring something unwanted here with you're yelling!" Ino looked at Shikamaru and the rants only continued.

"Don't WOMAN me you lazy ass! You're going to screw up my kids and they'll n-n-never b-b-e-ehap-p-py" Her sentences became incoherent as the waterworks began. Loud wails could be heard as she crumpled to the ground, her face buried in her hands. Everyone stared at her with either a murderous intent or a look of being completly weirded out. Naruto shot up mumbling something about saving Hinata from a giant vegetable but the loud cries seemed to wake him up even more, drawing his attention to the second loudest of the group.

"What's going on?"

"SHUT THE HELL UP NARUTO!" That's when all hell broke lose. It took Shikamaru, Neji, and Kakashi to pull Ino off of the poor confused boy.

O.oo.O

"Sakura-san. Wake up Sakura-san." Her eyes fluttered open and after readjusting to her surroundings, mainly the upclose shot of Ryo in her face she jumped backwards, crashing rather painfully into the wall.

"The hell..." Sakura didn't remember falling asleep, she just remembered taking a small bite of the rice and finding it repulsing, then guzzling the water to get the disgusting taste out, which had somehow returned. She could hardly keep herself from gagging. She understood why she fell asleep though. "You drugged me?"

"We had to, you need your strength to heal Ichiro-taii-san, sleep is essential." Ryo stood up straight, putting his hands on his hips in a slightly know-it-all way.

"No." A look of shock crossed the older boy's face. That look alone completly awed Sakura. Did he really think that a threat like torture would make her betray her village and heal some guy she didn't know with hardly any information on what his plans were in the first place? A rather loud 'HELL NO' echoed through her mind at the silly question.

"That's a shame Sakura-san. I didn't want to have to hurt you."

"Then let me go. I would love to hurt you." She gave him a rather fake sweet smile before glaring at him. He countered with a chesire grin, but just when Sakura began to part her lips to say something she was cut short when a foot connected with the side of her head at a speed she could hardly follow. Already black dots danced in her vision. This would be a long day...

O.oo.O

**Author's Notes:** Hey you guys! Sorry I haven't updated... I seem to be horrible at doing this frequently, but the damn disease of writer's block infiltrated my mind again! I swear they need to make a pill for it... I would be addicted. I was so excited about the new Naruto series that I flipped out and have been on a sasusaku craze lately... and well... I forced myself to write. Also I had one of those big state tests today and it was over English and well... I thought today was a good writing day so I figured if I was going to be wracking my brain for ideas I should at least do it on a good day to where I can form coherent sentences, right? Eh.

Anywhoz... If you review... i'll give you something shiny. All you ADD fans out there will love that! So please press the little grey 'Go' button in the corner -

Thank you!!!

P.S. Sorry if the 'Ino-breaks-down' scene wasn't up to parr with you guys... I enjoyed writing it.. but like I said... writer's block... I hope you thought it was at least worth a little bit of an effort to giggle.. even if it was just a wee bit... heh.

O.oSerenityo.O


	6. The Many Ways To Say No

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago and there wouldn't be so many damn fillers!

Full Summary:

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura disappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf takes the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

Lemme know what you guys think, I know it's a pretty bad summary, but from taking enough english tests in my past years i've learned that summarizing things is not my cup of tea... So bear with me.. heh. Also you can see i'm not that strong in the naming area either... goodness knows what the enemies names will be, God help.

_Alright… so, sorry for the late update. I've been having the absolute worst luck with technology lately… everything is breaking! My computer flipped out and wouldn't turn on, so I plugged in another computer… I don't think I know how to work it because it randomly shut off and won't turn back on, and my dad broke the laptop he gave me by snapping the cord because the ghetto thing has to stay plugged in if you're using it. So I'm currently on my dad's computer and typing this thing up after a lack of motivation and writer's block… But there is no excuse. I just want this story to be farther in so I can start typing the action scenes that keep replaying in my head, it's just the act of getting there that's giving me problems, so bear with me please!!! And thank you all my lovely reviewers, I will give you all immunity to my army of rabid emo-penguin ninjas._

**Chapter 6:**

The Many Ways to Say No

Ever since the little breakdown, tensions ran high around the group of nine. Naruto purposely took notion to keep Hinata between himself and a certain emotional bride in a crisis. If simply asking a question and getting attacked wasn't bad enough, the blue-eyed prankster had made a little comment about a bad case of PMS and the blonde beast was unleashed. He would have faced the kyuubi inside any day. That devil woman almost stabbed him with a kunai and if it hadn't been for Hinata giving her a flower causing her to shed a few tears of joy, he would surely be dead.

So since Hinata was on her A-list, Naruto made it clear that the heiress was to stay between the two of them at all times. Whenever blue eyes would come in contact with each other a glare would pass, obviously showing the mutual annoyance and silent death threats. Hinata went down to relay to the next jumping point, Ino soon following. A few seconds later no raven or blonde heads ever came back up which caused Naruto to look back. Eight people stood their hovering over a map their eyes trained on him. He landed on a branch and tried to turn around with no avail, skidding off the side of the limb. Out of some string of luck the orange-clad ninja landed on two feet, a triumphant look on his face. His grace was short lived though as a sandal pegged him in the head.

"Get up here now you dumbass!" Glaring, Naruto made a promise to the inner sadist. _'By the end of this mission, only one blonde will be left standing Ino. Flowers will be the least of your damn problems!'_

"TAKE SOME FREAKIN' PMS PILLS AND LAY OFF YOU PSYCHOPATH!" As Naruto scooped up the sandal he realized that the sunlight suddenly disappeared. Looking up his face fell as the shower of kunai began it's decent.

O.oo.O

"Sakura-san, we don't have to keep doing this." Sakura graciously replied with the gesture of spitting blood at Ryo. This whole 'torture' thing was getting on her nerves anyway. They had been doing this all morning, him asking her the same question over and over again, her giving the same answer in multiple different ways:

"No."

"Not a chance."

"Negative."

"Go try and swallow a sword."

"Learn to do it yourself."

And the ever so popular silent treatment accompanied with a glare. Each refusal earned her with a new bruise, scrape, or gash. She figured by now she had at least three broken bones, maybe a few broken fingers and most likely a dislocated shoulder. Things were not looking to be on the bright side of things.

That last response though seemed to do something different to the so far calm Ryo. Frustration seemed to cloud his green eyes as he stared at the red blotch on the ground.

"Must you be so difficult?" Letting out a sigh he left the room, returning back moments later with a candle. He sat down on the ground, pulling out a senbon needle as he did so, playing with it in the dancing flame. Sakura didn't like that evil glint in his eyes, and it wasn't hard to guess what the purpose of the needle and the flame combination was.

As he stood up she involuntarily squirmed, trying to scoot back into the wall. "How 'bout we brand you as a comrade." He lifted up his shirt to show his own 'brand'. It was a dot, with eight arrows branching off from it, going equal lengths from the center point. "It's a sign for chaos." Behind the brand though, a little off center was the kanji for dimension, but as soon as he dropped his shirt her gaze immediately went up to his eyes. "You're brand needs to be in a bit more…. showy place." He tapped his cheek with his free hand as he began moving towards her. "You will be awake for this."

When he came in range she began to thrash violently, making any attempt possible to hurt Ryo. He took a step back and glanced over his shoulder, nodding at the mirror before turning back to Sakura.

"You are just hurting yourself more." Two men came in the room, and they, after a fight, put Sakura in a hold. She had triumphantly given a nasty head butt to one of them and a knee to the chest to the other. But when they finally captured her Ryo sat down to where he was practically straddling her, and holding her head in place by taking her jaw in a firm grip. "This will happen eventually, but if you heal Ichiro-taii-san I will let you pick where this will be and gladly drug you up to high heavens."

Sakura smirked and gathered as much spit and blood as she could in her mouth and aimed right between his eyes and fired. Ryo seemed shocked for a few seconds, as did the men, so she took the opportunity to struggle and fight. They seemed to regain their sanity quicker than the kunoichi liked as they regained their hold and Ryo wiped away the disgusting matter on his forehead.

"Your mistake medic." He gripped her jaw even harder and jerked her head to a side, touching the searing needle to her left cheek beginning his tattoo. The pain blinded Sakura for a few moments before her yells began to echo throughout the dungeon.

O.oo.O

A sickening feeling began to build in Sasuke's stomach. He hated having to move at this slow pace. If he was alone, he would probably already be heading back to Konoha with Sakura. He began to scowl and continue with his self-assured conceded thoughts as he folded up the map and put it back in his kunai pouch.

The group of nine had set a path towards the north, seeing as how that was where the last activity of the group was spotted. They would probably be there within a day or two, three tops if they ran into trouble. This was anything but relaxing to the Uchiha.

Building chakra in his legs he jumped, bounding from one tree to the next, picking up speed. He wasn't going to waste anymore time. The group would either go his speed or get left behind no arguing about it. As he passed by each member of the party then gave him a confused look before picking up their speed. When Sasuke was still pulling away though it was Naruto who spoke up first.

"Sasuke, don't waste your energy, slow do-"

"Shut up and keep moving." A glare was set in Sasuke's features as he pushed off another tree, trying to keep his temper in check the best he could.

"But if we get in a fight an-"

"I said shut up." His sharingan emerged as he spared a glance towards Naruto, his crimson eyes burning with pent up rage. "You've slowed us down enough."

Naruto for once didn't feel the urge to argue with his so called rival. That look in his eye was enough for the blonde to know his limit. Even he could tell the meaning behind those deadly eyes. He always knew that Sasuke had a soft spot for the female of team seven, but he never really grasped how soft that spot really was until now.

'_The teme is actually scared.'_

O.oo.O

**Author's Notes:**

Alright… so here's another chapter. I like how it ended, I was going to keep going but I figured seeing as how it's 1 30 in the morning that Naruto's thoughts was the best place to leave it if anywhere. I hope you enjoyed it -

And just an FYI, if you leave me some reviews… I might just post another chapter all the sooner, because it gives me motivation.

I

I

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This button V


	7. Neji's a Nancy Boy

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago and there wouldn't be so many damn fillers!

Full Summary:

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura disappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf takes the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

Lemme know what you guys think, I know it's a pretty bad summary, but from taking enough english tests in my past years i've learned that summarizing things is not my cup of tea... So bear with me.. heh. Also you can see i'm not that strong in the naming area either... goodness knows what the enemies names will be, God help.

_Okay you guys... So someone asked me to write some longer chapters. I feel guilty because I realize just how short they are and no one likes that XP So... I'm gonna try and make this one longer, we'll see how it goes... and believe me, these suckers are gonna get longer when I get more into it. I'm gonna add some Sasu/Saku to this one though - Yay!_

**Chapter 7**

Neji's a Nancy Boy

_"Sasuke-kun! C'mon, you're gonna be in that village!!!" Sakura was glaring at him. How she detested that stupid, stupid boy right now. He was going to be right there! And it was a solo mission so it wasn't like she could ask anyone else._

_"C'mon, it's just a simple object, they don't have them here in Konoha. If I could ask anyone else I would. I'll even give you the money to buy it!" He shook his head and crossed his arms in a finalizing way._

_'There is no way in _hell_ I'm going to buy something like _that_.' He was glaring at nothing particularly as he heard the disappointed sighs coming from Sakura and her friends that were standing behind her. He was a man. He was an Uchiha! Uchiha's did not buy soft cuddly dolls. He had pride damn it and despite what Naruto said he wasn't whipped!_

_"C'mon Sasuke, they don't have the limited edition chibi dolls here or we would get them ourselves. But we all got other things to do, you'll be right there. We'll all give you the money. I want the panda, Sakura wants the cat, Hinata wants the rabbit, and Tenten wants the dog. Shika-kun, Naruto, or even Neji would do it if they were going on your mission!"_

_"I am not them." 'Damn straight. They are the whipped ones, not me!' If Sakura couldn't convince him, what makes Ino think she had any power over him. She was just loud, not persuasive._

_Sakura began to glare and seethe at the boy. "Buy them when you're all bloody then, people won't ask questions! Just don't get blood on the dolls. People who are covered in blood are considered sociopath, not gay. Be secure in yoru manhood for Kami's sake!"_

_As he tossled those sexy strands of raven hair in a defiant way she just let out a frustrated breath before smiling with a sadistic hidden motive. Glancing at her friends behind her she winked and shuffled them out of the room. Closing the door behind her she turned on her boyfriend. It was time to bring out the big guns._

_Just asking didn't work._

_Flirting didn't work._

_Pouting didn't work._

_Being mad didn't work._

_Ganging up on him didn't work._

_But she knew two things that would definatly without a doubt hit home._

_Crying and ego bruising._

_So crying was first, pinching herself on the arm while he was being rebellious and staring away from her she began to well up the tears in her puppy dog emerald eyes and go to his bed, sinking down on it and burying her face in her hands, letting the sobs emit. "I can't b-b-believ-ve you!! I w-was asking for a f-favor and you won't even do that! You don't l-l-love me anymore!!!"_

_He turned to her, an annoyed look on his face as he sat down next to her. "Stop crying."_

_"Don't tell me what to do you insensitive jerk!" She had been trying not to yell, really.. but she needed to be emotional... and maybe her acting turned a little to... real. "YOU'RE NOT MY BOSS SASUKE! YOU'RE MY BOYFRIEND, THIS IS WHAT BOYFRIENDS DO!"_

_He seemed taken aback but he stood up and crossed his arms. "I will not degrade myself for you and your friends."_

_She glared, the crying thing wasn't working. Ego bruising it was. She took a deep breath before standing up. "I think Sai has a mission there next week, I'll just ask him." She hid a smile as she saw his shoulders tense and his knuckles turn a ghostly white as he gripped his arms. "Sai's been really nice lately, after that accidental kiss and all, and i'm sure he's very secure in his masculinity so don't worry Sasuke-kun, Sai-kun wi-" She was cut off when the Uchiha was suddenly infront of her, gripping her forearms._

_"Which ones?" Inner Sakura was laughing like a maniac._

_"What?" That was why innocence was given to girls, not boys._

_"Which ones do you want?" Ah... the joys of jealous boyfriends._

_About ten minutes later Sakura walked into the hall with the other three girls, closing the door softly, a smirk glittering her face._

_"What happened?" Tenten was raising an eyebrow at her, highly confused. Ino and Hinata also had matching expressions. "We heard some yelling and then everything went totally quiet."_

_"He said he's going to get the first editions."_

_"But I can't afford that! I'm just a kunoichi Sakura, I don't have a rich boyfriend like you or Tenten!" Ino began flailing her arms about in fury at the medic, but the smirk never left her face as she pushed the blonde aside and began walking down the hall._

_"He said he's paying for all of them to." Sakura rounded the corner with a grin stretching from ear to ear on her face while leaving three gaping girls in her wake._

_"WAIT SAKURA!"_

O.oo.O

She blinked awake, a groan escaping her chapped lips as she tried to focus on the bug crawling across the dirty stone floor. _'Oh for Kami's sake... it feels like a cow sat on me.'_ Shaking her head she felt a dull pain on her cheek, and when she looked up to the mirror her eyes immediatly flew to the two day old burn 'tattoo' on her cheek.

If it wasn't healed soon, like in the next 24-hours soon, it wasn't going to go away, at least not completly. Giving a tug on her bloody wrists she was praying for a miracle that the chakra strings would snap. She wasn't that lucky. Her hands had gone numb long ago from lack of blood circulation. Damn gravity.

It looked like she was going to be here for awhile to. It had been... four days she guessed, maybe five, and the hope she had for a rescue team wasn't that high either. Sure she knew someone was coming, but it wasn't like they knew where to find her. It would be a little longer than four or five days. Maybe six days she had been here...

her eyes trained on her dirtied reflection through. When she came here she looked brand new, but now, she looked positively repulsive. Her hiar was slightly stringy and blood was matted through in patches. Dried up blood caked her pale skin and torn clothes hung along her body in rags. The only thing that seemed in tact was the blue scarf, dangling from around her bruised neck. The brand was what stuck out the most though. It made her start to think.

If and when she got back to Konoha, how would she cover it up. Make up was always an option, or maybe she could take on the Kiba and Chouji look. Or maybe join the ANBU and always wear a mask. There was the Shino drab with the high collared jacket that covered the bottom part of the face to.

She began to think on Kakashi, that was another option, the facemask. A bitter smile crossed her face, a pain shot through her cheek but she couldn't hide the smile as thoughts of the village began to sprint through her mind. It was like an open door adn she just couldn't close it. But the thought of Kakashi made her think of that one girl. that Rin girl that was in his team picture of his childhood, her appearance falshing through her mind. She had two bandages on her face, she could do that... it might be unoriginal, but it would work. Thinking of teams and Kakashi reminded her of Naruto and Mina's vibrant blue eyes, followed by Sasuke and the dream she had just less than an hour ago.

Tears began to well up in her eyes with the thoughts of home. that was all she wanted right now, was to be in a warm bed with the rhythmic breathing of Sasuke filling her ears next to her. She wanted to be eating a steamy bowl of ramen next to Hinata with Naruto and Sasuke bickering over their heads. Shopping with the girls, fighting an undeserving straw dummy or Tsunande. Helping Shizune hide numerous bottles of sake from a very drunk hokage. Hell, even a triple shift at the hospital would be welcoming.

Her fist clenched, blood beginning to drizzle down her palms, wrists, and arms. She wanted to go home. Back to Konoha where everything was right. Back to normality. Not this hell hole that was wet, cold, and filled with painful memories. She wanted tea and the warmth of another. She wanted Sasuke.

Hearing the door creak open she glared, ignoring the pain as her salty tears slid over the chaos dimension burn decorating her cheek. What she saw though shcoked her and she felt herself just grow angrier.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

O.oo.O

They had been traveling for days iwth only a few hours of sleep and everyone was getting a little edgy. Naruto and Ino were sworn enemies for the remainder of the mission. hinata was their unfortunate middleman... woman. Tenten was having serious hair issues that no one dared to mention for fear of a barrage of sharp metal things raining upon themselves. Sai had stopped talking after he asked what 'PMS' was and if Sasuke had it. The list of isues continued on and on.

They had finally reached their destination of the small village at the edge of the fire country. This seemed to add to the number fo bad things that had happened on this very hell infested mission. No one would talk to them about the stupid gang! Sasuke was at the point of setting the next person on fire that refused to answer the nine and if it weren't for Naruto saying 'Sakura wouldn't want that,' there probably wouldn't be a village to question anymore.

Now, they were cureently standing in a circle, debating on what to do. So far... they had only reached teh agreement that asking people wasn't working and the should try a different method. How progressive.

Neji was giving a deadpanned glare to each of them. He loved Sakura like any other emotionally challenged fellow who had known her for years that was her friend(just not in a Sasuke way). He owed her his life like many, many others did. But this was ridiculous. A ninja was supposed to be emotionless. And the majority of the others were flipping out. If they were all just calm this would go much, much faster.

He was stopped in his irratated thoughts as he felt something tap against his foot. Looking down he stared at a bright blue ball in confusion before looking up to the other side of the street. There stood anold woman waving at him and grasping a little boy's hand around the age of four.

He let out an aggravated grunt before bending over and picking up the ball. He muttered something about "being right back," _'not that anyone cares,' _before going to the two citizens. "Here." He held out the ball and was about to turn around and walk off before the woman grabbed his wrist. He raised an eyebrow at her. What did she think she was doing?

"I thought you were a woman from our hair, that's why I chose you... you'll work though." Neji couldn't hide the twitch that formed in his raised eyebrow. _'A... woman...'_

"You're looking for that girl right, the pink-haired one?" Neji nodded, the twitch disappearing as he gave her his full attention. "I know I saw them, about four days ago heading through here. I was going to buy some breakfast, it was really good... this new type of ramen, something with pork and some kind of herb. What was it now?" She began to tap her chin, thinking. Neji was about to tell her to get to the point but she seemed to have a revelation as she began to through her hands up in the air. "That doesn't matter though! you're friend, she was taken towards the north. There's a plantation a few hours away, you might want to go there and ask them. Now, go away." She hit Neji in the arm with the side of her walking stick and snatched the ball thrusting it into the boy's hands. After nudging him along she left, not before hitting Neji again. "You know, for a nancy boy, you're a looker up close." She winked at him and gave a cackled laugh at the horrified look he gave her before moving back towards the group.

None of them acknowledged his presence before he smacked Naruto on the head causing the loud blonde to curse at him. "I know which way they took Sakura." He retold what the hag had said, leaving out the bit about ramen. Naruto was already annoying enough, he didn't want to seem him spaz out over a few ramen ingredients. After a few more minutes of discussing plans they took off again, hope filling their minds that maybe by tomorrow this time they would be going back home with ten members instead of nine.

O.oo.O

"PUT HER DOWN!" Sakura began struggling again, she couldn't stand seeing Mina like that. Ryo had the poor girl by the hair, pulling her into the dungeon. "I SAID LET HER GO!"

Ryo pushed the girl down against a wall before walking up to Sakura. "Look, Mina hasn't been marked yet, but if you don't agree to heal Ichiro-taii-san within the hour, she will. And she won't be getting just branded either." He was glaring at her before he turned and left a pissed off Sakura and a crying Mina.

Sakura didn't glare at the door long before turning her attention to Mina. "Did they hurt you any?" The little girl crumbled into the corner but shook her head, shaking. The sight before her was heartbreaking. She didn't know what to do either. She didn't want to betray Konoha, but she couldn't let them do what they did to her to that girl. It was against her nature. She felt tears welling up in her eyes again.

Sakura had never felt so defeated in her life.

O.oo.O

**Author's Notes:**

So you guys, I'm totally dedicating this chapter to XXDragonheart6XX because she was the one who was asking for a longer chapter. And ya know what, now i'm addicted to this story because the in either the next chapter or the chapter after that it's the big er... escape/rescue thing. I got some action planned and plan on listening to a lot of rock songs to get all pumped up. So hopefully I can get that stuff updated this week sometime.

Oh, and I finally got my computer fixed... and got a new Sasuke desktop to where he's all Shippoden...ish.. it's just sexy alright .-

Review for me my loves! I enjoy them and you'll get a pass from my army of emo penguin ninjas. -

Thanks!!! (Oh, and XXDragonheart6XX... sorry if it's not long enough for you... I've been working on it for five hours and it's really late...))


	8. Can You Say, Nostalgic?

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago and there wouldn't be so many damn fillers!

Full Summary:

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura disappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf takes the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

**Chapter 8**

Can You Say, Nostalgic?

"_Oh Kami-sama…. Please… don't do this…" _

_Naruto couldn't contain the tremors attacking his hands as he stared at the girl a few feet away. Blood soaked through her clothes where a kunai had been thrusted through her flesh. Dark hair was splashed out across the ground where her head rested, and as she lay unconscious, the man who had made her a victim continued to move forward to finish the job, another kunai in hand._

"_LEAVE HER ALONE!!!!" As the attacker turned and stared at the sudden booming voice Naruto suddenly felt a suspense rise inside of him, wishing he could do something more than just sit and watch, but he was about to be victimized himself._

"_Naruto, will you just shut up! They can't hear you. For one thing it's a T.V. movie. And another thing, it's not that scary, we all know she lives and he saves her from a tragic demise." Sakura was fuming, and it probably wasn't because she was annoyed at Naruto for yelling at a T.V. It was probably more like him yelling and waking her up seeing as how she had "innocently" fallen asleep on Sasuke's shoulder. That left Naruto wondering, Sasuke hadn't pushed her off, and they weren't dating _(yet)_, so why hadn't he pushed her off onto Shikamaru who he knew was one of her good friends and wouldn't mind? That left the blonde utterly confused at his best friend's actions._

"_She's right Naruto-kun… it is just a movie." Hinata lifted her head from his shoulder, and smiling gently at her boyfriend. This caused Naruto to just sigh, he couldn't help it… yeah he knew how it ended and all, but he still got riled up every time he watched it. Maybe because he had reacted once that way when he and Hinata were in the same position._

"_I can't help it… That guy just makes me so mad every time we watch this movie." He gave a nervous laugh as Sakura leaned back in her seat next to an oddly disappointed Uchiha, mumbling profanities at Naruto as Hinata resumed her spot as using the kyuubi for a pillow._

"_You need to stop letting damsels in distress make you all worked up. They can save themselves." After Sakura's comment, Naruto mutter a sorry and attempted to sit silently through the rest of the movie. Sad to say he didn't even make five minutes._

Darkness began to swallow the remaining embers of the campfire, the light dwindling down to almost nothing. A small branch began to poke and prod at the weak illumination and as it began to build again a few more pieces of lumber were fed to the awaking beast of the fire.

Naruto woke from his dream and felt an ache in his heart. He treasured those memories, when his friends and himself were all together, passing the time mission free. But the threat of their last get together as a whole being one of their own's funeral was just to real and far to terrifying.

His cerulean eyes landed on the pale face of Hinata, hardly a foot away from his own. She looked peaceful as she slept, but he knew that Sakura missing wasn't easy for her in the bit. Sakura had been the one to finally arise Naruto's awareness of Hinata, she also taught the Hyuuga heiress medical skills, and even somehow helped with her fainting problem. And now they weren't that far, in an hour or two they would be at the plantation Neji had informed the group about, then find Sakura and kick some serious ass.

Sighing he rolled over, facing the campfire, his thoughts dwelling on the people closest to his heart. He could tell Sasuke was having some serious coping issues, but Naruto didn't know how you would exactly cope with this either. But as he stared at the flames, a sudden shimmer caught his eye. As he looked past the burning embers he caught sight of the said boy, staring at something in his calloused hands, and his mind seemed to be elsewhere other than watch duty.

He got up, pushing his blanket aside, leaving it to protect Hinata from the winter-ridden air. For camp they had made a little hole in the snow, digging to the ground so they wouldn't be lying on the frozen perspiration. It hadn't been hard, but the fact it was winter was never good for traveling purposes.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke looked up from the object and balled his hand into a fist around it while he snapped into reality. Naruto moved around the fire, sitting next to the Sharingan wielder giving a look of concern.

"Aa." Sasuke sighed, unclenching his fist. "I was going to give her this," He revealed the engagement ring to Naruto, "the day we got back."

Sapphire eyes widened with shock as he picked up the ring with a bronzed hand. "Y-you were going to p-propose…" Naruto didn't know how to react and became uncharacterally speechless. He bit his bottom lip as he examined the simple silver band, decorated with the Uchiha clan symbol.

"We'll get her back, it's the promise of a lifetime."

O.oo.O

Panic began to rise at the pit of her stomach. The bottom of the hour was closing in and she didn't know what to do. Betray Konoha and heal this Ichiro guy or allow Mina to be tortured. As a medic she would heal Ichiro and save Mina, it was her job description, but as a shinobi, all sirens were going off in her head to do anything but help the enemy. Mina was technically the enemy as well, seeing as how she was in this place and taking orders from her brother and his subordinates. It was completely impossible to satisfy both occupations.

Her blood ran cold as the door swung open, Ryo and a group of others trudging in the small room. The three lackeys following immediately seized Mina, who began to sob loudly again, giving an inevitable struggle.

"Which is it Sakura-san?" He must of taken her silence as an answer, motioning for the men to hold the young girl still. The medic couldn't take her eyes off of the senbon needle and the candle in his hand. Memories began to stack up in her mind as the salty tears began to build up in her glossy eyes as Ryo began heating the weapon.

"Don't!" She bit her lip, forcing the tears away as the shame began to wash over. She couldn't believe she was about to do this.

"What was that Sakura-san?" He pulled the needle away from the flame, raising an eyebrow at her defeated appearance.

"I'll do it." She wanted to vomit at his trademark smile crawled across his pale skin.

"Oh, wonderful. Arigato Sakura-san." He nodded to one of the men, who walked towards Sakura with a cautious step before untying the chakra strings, leaving Sakura to slump onto the ground, her hands burning for the sudden return of blood flow. "Now don't try anything Sakura-san, because it would be easy to snap cute little Mina-san's neck before you even preformed a jutsu. You should have all of your chakra, so how about we get started after I heal you?"

Walking over to her he slipped one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders and lifted, cradling her bridal style as he moved towards the door. "One of you stay with Mina, the other two with me."

O.oo.O

"Well, dislocated shoulder, cracked cheekbones, fractured ribs and a few bumps and bruises weren't so bad. The burn is permanent, so really, you got off relatively easy Sakura-san." She glowered at Ryo as he sat there and smiled at her. How could someone torture someone for almost a week and sit there and smile as if they had been best friends for years and nothing happened. Oh how she would love to put him in cardiac arrest.

"Let's get down to business though, here is Ichiro-taii-san's file. It's a simple heart problem, which I believe to be a clot. But I've never been the best when it came to hearts, so we couldn't take any chances." He pointed to his notes as Sakura scanned the file, taking notice of his constant scribbles.

He led her down the hall to what she guessed was an operation room. Her hypothesis was correct as she stepped through the threshold to find Ichiro heavily sedated and a few people surrounding him. Sakura stepped up next to where the terrifying captain lay, an involuntary shutter coursing through her system as she recalled his eyes.

"This will be complicated, I don't know how long it will take." A green glow surrounded her hands as she sent a shock of chakra through the dying man's system. "It seems he has a clot, so the only thing we have to worry about his keeping his heart beating while I remove it." Letting out a sigh she held her hands over the exposed chest, a reluctant healing light illuminating the outline of her face.

O.oo.O

"So you said you saw a group heading to the west with a girl who matches our description? Pink hair, probably unconscious, fair skin, and probably in sleeping attire?" Shikamaru stared at the old couple in front of him, the rest of the team behind him with hope written all over their faces.

"Yes, she didn't look hurt but she was defiantly unconscious." The old man gave a toothless smile, pointing with his cane towards a wooded area. "Just that way, my son went hunting and said something about a gang residing a few miles in. He went into town a few days ago, so he can't guide you. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, we can move faster without a guide, thank you." Shikamaru gave a polite bow before motioning for the others to follow behind him. They were close now, he could feel it. A few more miles and then there would be hell to pay for this so called 'gang.'

O.oo.O

She opened her eyes when the consistent burning feeling began to settle on her hands from the constant use of chakra. _'Operation complete and patient still alive, damn it.'_ She glared at the healed man before turning away from the table and moving to the wall, allowing herself to slide down it. "He'll be fine." She felt the same feeling of shame wash over her once more. Oh how she would love to just beat her head against the wall right now.

"Thank you Sakura-san. Now, until we know you are trustable you'll have to stay in that one room, but I'll see about getting you that tea." He smiled and gripped her forearm, pulling her up and leading her out of the operation room. He stopped as he met one of the ninja that escorted Ryo and herself here. "Please take Sakura-san back to her room while I finish the surgery."

With a nod the tall bulky ninja replaced Ryo's hand and began to bring the pink-haired medic back to her keep. She felt like an object for a few moments, being used as a tool then told to be put away, but the wheels in her mind began to turn at this sudden opportunity. It would be easy to get away now, there was only one man to deal with, and then she could get Mina and get out of this place in a snap. A smile crept onto her face as she gave the other ninja a sadistic glare.

Gather enough chakra into her hand she used her free arm and connected it with the man's side, forcing him to let go and smack his head against the corridor wall. Not wanting to see the aftermath of her sudden decision she took off, racing back towards her room.

The moment she opened her door she pushed chakra into her feet and lunged toward the man holding onto Mina. He took out a kunai in defense and plunged it into Sakura's side, but not in enough time to save him from a skull-shattering blow to the head from her iron fist.

She bit back a gasp as she pulled out the foreign object from her body, placing her hand over the open wound. The healing would have to wait; first she needed to get herself and Mina far, far away. Grabbing the said girl's small hand in her own she began to run, pushing out the dungeon door. "How do I get to the exit?"

"W-what?!" The girl's eyes were wide and Sakura could easily tell by the stuttering and uncertainty in her voice that she was frightened.

"The exit Mina, please, which way?"

The little girl seemed to gain some composure and nodded before pulling Sakura down the hallway, and taking a rather confusing path. This place reminded her of Orochimaru's layers, being so many hallways and doors. She was starting to think that Mina had even lost her own way until two large oak doors filled her vision.

Sakura took the lead then, stopping long enough to put Mina on her back to ensure a quick-paced escape. She winced as the added weight cause a sharp pain to shoot through her side. "Where are we going? I can't leave nii-sama!"

"You can't stay here, they'll hurt you." Sakura held her side, trying to apply pressure on the free flowing wound as she ran, not slowing down as her pink tresses whipped across her face. Pushing the doors open, the crisp winter air greeted her in the same nostalgic way, one thought on a loop in her mind. She had to get away; she didn't care where she ended up, just as long as she got away.

**Author's Notes: **

Hey you guys!!! Sorry it took so long to update… wow, I seem to say that almost ever chapter don't I… heh.. well, I'll try not to make you wait to long for the next chapter, but exams are coming up, but I get out of school the 24th of this month, so we'll see what happens - Updates should just be rolling in whenever school gets out.

About the chapter now, first off, it's dedicated to Ranoi S.Rose for giving me this pretty spiffy review that I'm all proud of and stuff. Then second, um this wasn't my favorite chapter but it's three in the morning and I haven't updated in a bit so I figured I better get it out and just suck it up. If you guys don't like it I might replace it with a better-written chapter later, but for now I'm just going to stick with this.

Thanks for reading!


	9. What the Hell?

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto sadly... or a giant anvil would of landed on Orochimaru long ago and there wouldn't be so many damn fillers!

Full Summary:

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura disappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf takes the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

**Chapter 9**

What the Hell?

The snow was painful as her feet dug into, impressions of weight trailing after her. Sakura had one goal in mind: run until she was in Konoha or her lungs collapsed. When she started this little escape though she never took in toll what she would do with the girl on her back that was just shy of hyperventilating. The silent tears that dribbled down her face were unmistakable as well, she couldn't deny that she was happy to get away but regretted bringing Mina. This girl was now suddenly her responsibility and along with the scar decorating her cheek, a constant reminder of the past few days.

Sakura shook her head, pushing the thoughts of uncertainty to the back of her mind. She would deal with that bridge when she crossed it. Her green eyes landed on a tree branch in her path and her muscled contracted as she pushed against the ground in all efforts to clear the said piece of detached tree.

As she landed though she never counted on the fact that the flat ground she had been sprinting across would change to a steep slope and she inevitably lost her footing. The medic-nin fell hard onto her side, trying not to crush Mina, and against her will she began violently tumble down the hill until she rolled to a stop at its base.

Darkness threatened to take over her vision as she used her arms to slowly prop herself up to give herself a clear view of her surroundings. The spunky brunette was nowhere to be seen. A panic rised in Sakura as she let out a cough and blood spurted out onto her hand and the crimson snow beneath her. She had already been bleeding badly enough from the stab wound and running hadn't made it any better. Internal bleeding was no joke when it came to a life or death situation. She needed surgery and the middle of the woods lying in a pile of snow soaked with you own blood was no place to do it. And to top if off Mina was gone.

"Mina, where are you?" Her voice was raspy and cracked when she raised it above a whisper. Her hands turned a shade of red as she dug them into the snow, searching for the earth beneath her to give her a bit of support as she tried to push herself up.

Her elbows gave out and Sakura collapsed, her hair falling across her face. The smell of forest was strong and that brought her dull green gaze to the blue scarf lying next to her. She focused on Uchiha symbol as the black dots dancing in her vision began to coagulate. She knew there was other things she should be thinking about, like how she was going to make it out of this alive, what she would do if she woke up in the dungeon again, or how she was going to find Mina. But she couldn't shake the thought out of her mind on how the blue scarf that had clung around her neck through this entire thing still had that smell of the damn Uchiha boy that resided in her heart. She had tried, she really did, but the flame of hope that had been inside was snuffed out, and by the looks of it, Sakura figured either one of two things would happen. She was either going to die or wake up in the dungeon only to die a little bit later. In Sakura's opinion, she would rather it be the latter.

O.oo.O

The moment Sakura hit the ground and began to roll down the slope Mina had luckily skidded herself to a stop. She scrambled back up the hill, hiding herself behind the tree that the root the pink haired girl jumped over petruded from. She knew others were coming; she had overheard some of the other ninja's gossiping about the talk they heard from their recent visits to the village about leaf ninjas. Mina knew they would attack her upon seeing her, and seeing as how Sakura was unconscious and couldn't exactly vouch for her there was no reason for Mina to hang around. Her friends if they were worth anything would find her and Sakura would definitely live.

Turning on her heel she began to run back, the feeling of the snow crunching beneath her feet unwelcome. Mina hated the snow with a passion, it was never on her list of what she found pleasant. So the moment she reached the opened doors of the complex she felt a feeling of comfort wash over her.

Turning the corner she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Ryo crouching down next to a dead body in the middle of the hallway. "She crushed his side and his ribs punctured his lungs, I just found him. What are we going to do Mina-sama? Do you want me to go after Sakura-san?"

"No. There is no point in fighting with the leaf and they are to close. Let them take her, heal her and we'll lie low for a while. Give it a few weeks and then we'll go retrieve her." Ryo nodded before looking up at the ten year old hovering above him. She subsided the shiver running down up his spine as he looked into her eyes, they may have been a shade darker in the range of blues, but they matched with her older brother's in emotion. Cold, terrifying, and dead to the world.

"Mina-sama, why do you want her?"

"Finish your research and you'll know." Turning from the dead body and Ryo without so much as the bat of an eye Mina began to head down the dark corridor toward her room. "To let you know, there is another body in the dungeon."

Ryo raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl retreat before turning back towards the body. He wasn't close to completing his research on Orochimaru, having only read notes and a few books. That was only scratching the surface on whatever Mina and Ichiro were planning. Sighing he wrapped his long fingers around the arm of the body before slinging it up over his back.

O.oo.O

A flash of movement caused Hinata to stop dead in her tracks and immediately activate her Byakugan. Veins bulged out around her eyes as she concentrated on finding the source of her delay. The group of nine had been running for about ten minutes now so they had to be close if the old man had been right about the gang only being a few miles in.

"Hey wait up you guys, Hinata stopped." Naruto's voice carried to the rest of the group when he noticed his fiancé was no longer between the rival blonde of the group and himself. He jumped down next to her, staring out into the trees with a sense of hope filling up inside.

"I see a girl running, but she only looks about ten or so." Hinata bit her lip as she scanned through the trees once more. "Neji take a look to." The other Hyuuga nodded as he to activated the bloodline limit, scanning the tree line along with his cousin.

"Hinata, look right there." He outstretched his arm, pointing out to the base of a slope. It looked to be a log from where they all stood but there was something suspicious about it. "What does that look like to you?"

Redirecting her attention to the spot Neji singled out she concentrated once more on the "log." Before she could make any judgment though her eyes widened at the actions Sasuke displayed as he was already making his way towards it.

"Teme, there could be a trap!" Naruto glared but followed his best friend without hesitation. When Sasuke suddenly increased his speed though Naruto knew that something was up and like everyone else hope began to build in the kyuubi boy.

O.oo.O

"Sakura!" Sasuke skidded to a stop and dropped to his knees next to the pink-haired girl and began to push her hair away from her face. He felt a sense of relief wash through him when he saw her face, but the fact she was pale and her lips had a tinge of blue coated on them were not exactly settling to the Uchiha and rage began to fill.

He rolled her over and almost backed away with the amount of blood he saw, his eyes widening considerably. "Ino, Hinata!" When the two girls arrived they slowed to a stop, freezing in their steps. Sakura had been the one to teach them both medical jutsus, forced them to study, and constantly tested their abilities. To see her in such a condition was anything but expected. A student usually pictures that their sensei can overcome most obstacles, no one had ever said out loud that Sakura was their teacher, but it was just and unstated fact. She was one of the best medical ninjas known besides Tsunade, it was ironic to see that a simply kunai wound brought her down.

"Ino, Hinata! Don't stand there, do something!" Sasuke was glaring at them, pressing his hand against the wound using the common sense he had about medical jarb that applying pressure stopped the bleeding. His voice seemed to awaken the two girls as they shook their heads, almost as if they just broke free of a genjutsu. Quickly moving to either side of Sakura they began to work while the Uchiha stood up. "Get her back to Konoha."

"Where are you going?" Naruto gave a confused look at the Uchiha as the raven head turned toward the hill.

"To kill the ones that did this." Naruto's eyes widened a fraction as he stared at Sasuke's back. He knew the boy was pissed and that this kind of response would be how he reacted, but he never expected that kind of tone. It held possessiveness and rage, and the fact he said he was going to kill someone so easily wasn't that reassuring.

"She's going to want you there when she wakes up, there are other things more important then fighting them right now. If you are going to give her that ring you can't only protect her, you have to be there for her to." Naruto was actually expecting to deal with an angry Uchiha, but he had to restrain his jaw from dropping when Sasuke simply nodded his head and clenched his fists. Not in his entire friendship with the Sharingan wielder had that boy ever been so submissive to anything anyone except Sakura had ever said. What the hell…

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun. We got the bleeding to stop, but we need to get her back to the hospital as soon as possible. She also need to make her warmer." Hinata stood up and gave them both a sad look as she glanced back down at Ino. Silent tears were streaming down her face as the blonde gently traced the burn mark scratched into Sakura's porcelain cheek.

Sasuke didn't pay any mind to the girl though as he took off his jacket and wrapped the small nineteen year old up in it before picking her up. "Let's go."

**Author's Note:**

Sorry this is a short chapter, but it's 2 in the morning and I felt like I was beginning to ramble on or something… So I'll get to work on the next chapter in these next few days, and seriously test Sakura's sanity. Maybe. I dunno, we'll see.

Review please! I like reviewers… and I love this story, but sad to say I only have 22 reviews right now… that's telling me something people, and it's not good… I am going to finish this fic, eventually… but if I don't get reviews I do think I'm going to make a sequel. Anyhow, enough rambles… Review please! -


	10. Flowers Can Be Chosen Now

Disclaimer:

If I owned Naruto, would I be writing a _**fan**_ fiction about it?

Full Summary:

When our favorite ninja's reach the rather odd age of nineteen, they find themselves facing some of the most challenging, hair-pulling, fearful trials after Sasuke's one year girlfriend, the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura disappears. He returns from a mission to find Tsunade stressed, Ino blubbering, and a few pissed off shinobi. There is a new enemy to the hidden villages who is currently in a bad state of health, so the Leaf takes the lead in search for the med-nin. If they find Sakura, will she be the same or looking to fix a mistake?

Chapter 10 

Flowers Can Be Chosen Now

"_Run!" Pale arms flew in front of her face as the explosion went off, the force of it picking her up off of her feet and throwing her through the swinging doors. She did a few summersaults until she skidded to abrupt stop when two hands were placed on her._

_The ringing in her ears was loud, and when she removed her arms and took a look at herself the red splotches that decorated her clothes were not welcoming. The recollection of what just happened left her in confusion to say the least. _

"_What did you do?" She looked up to find the source of the voice that was captured by her vibrating eardrums. _

"_Sasuke-kun…" She blinked at him, staring at that angelic face contaminated with an expression she couldn't quite place. But as he raised a questionable eyebrow Sakura couldn't contain the goofy yet nervous grin that broke out over her features._

"_I uh…."_

_Reaching down he touched one of the blobs of red and then brought the substance up to his face. He stared at it for a few moments before sniffing it and finally licking it, as if it was dangerous and would poison him. _

"_Tomatoes?"_

"_I knew you liked them so… Heh, how 'bout we watch some television?" He gave her a deadpanned stare as he looked up at the doors she just burst out of, suddenly letting go of her and standing up straight._

"_What did you do?" Sasuke was starting to get angry._

"_I uh… How 'bout we go out to eat? I'll just go get changed." Sakura quickly pushed herself up, trying to get as far away from the Uchiha as possible, but as luck would have it she was suddenly jerked to a stop when he latched on to her wrist._

"_Sakura." Now the demanding voice._

"_I sorta… blew up your kitchen." Biting her bottom lip she decided to go with plan: look cute and act indifferent. Turning she was going to attempt to give him a look that said 'but who cares' but it took all she had not to burst out laughing._

_Uchiha Sasuke was shocked, gaping like a fish out of water. His stotic demeanor was shattered and he actually looked like he wanted to cry._

"_You did what?!" Okay, so angry wasn't the right word… pissed. Infuriated. Full of rage. He had his eyebrows knitted together, glare in place, and mouth set in a firm frown, the whole shebang. These were terms that better suited the boy at the moment, but to be perfectly honest, Sakura didn't know what he was getting so worked up about. It wasn't like she wasn't going to clean it._

"_Surprise..."_

O.oo.O

Green orbs were slowly revealed as her eyelids began to lull open. The moment the bright light hit her pupils though she closed them again, the pain of the sudden illumination being slightly overwhelming. Giving it a few moments she tried again only to be met with whiteness filling her line of vision. No dungeon, and another thing, she was comfortable. _'Did I really die?'_

A breeze swept in and curtains began to flutter over her head. _'What… curtains… Where am I?'_ She looked to the window and raised an eyebrow, but with the expression change she felt a tug on her cheek. Reaching up she felt a tug on her hand and immediately stopped in her actions, a panic beginning to boil in the pit of her stomach. Was she still in that place?

Looking at her hand expecting to see chakra strings she relaxed only slightly when she saw the IV petruding from her hand. _'So I'm in a hospital. I wonder which village.'_ She reached up to her face to feel what had tugged on her skin earlier and felt the soft gauze hiding her scar from the world.

Finally pressing her hands against the bed she made the move to sit up, allowing her a view of the outside world, but when the sheets tugged she looked down to see a pair of ninja boots propped up on the foot of her bed. Her eyes eagerly followed the limbs that those feet were connected to all the way up to the person's head of hair.

There sitting in a chair next to her bed, with hands intertwined over his chest, fast asleep with a book providing shade was Kakashi-sensei. Sakura stopped and stared, never once in her life so happy to see that damn orange book. Tears welled up in her eyes and began to spill without even so much as a warning and all she could do was lie there and silently cry as she stared at the man.

He shifted, obviously stirred by the movement Sakura caused and pulled the book to reveal the only visible eye and stared back at his ex-student before it crinkled into a smile. "Sasuke won't be very happy. When we finally get him to leave you wake up. Imagine that."

Sakura ignored the intense pain stabbing at her side and sat up completely, almost jumping on her sensei as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. The IV had been tugged out of her hand, but she didn't care. Kakashi was slightly shocked at her actions, and the thought of mentioning that she had surgery only two days ago crossed his mind and he opened his mouth to protest her violent movements. The moment he felt the dampness seep through his clothes on his neck and shoulder he stopped.

The girl was shaking like a leaf and he didn't even want to know how hard she was crying. Slowly the copy-nin wrapped his arms around the girl and returned the embrace, but he couldn't help the awkwardness he felt with the human contact. But he wouldn't dare push her away. Kakashi knew that Sakura needed to know that he was real and have a secure feeling and set aside his feelings of familiar distance. This was all he knew to do.

"You're safe Sakura, don't worry."

O.oo.O

"Don't act so mad. If you had just cooperated then this wouldn't of happened." Neji couldn't help but smirk at the three before him. They were sitting there tied back to back each with sour looks on their faces. Neither Sasuke, Ino, nor Naruto had left the room more than they had to. They had stayed next to Sakura the entire time anticipating her waking up, and by the middle of the second day they started to get snappy.

A few nurses complained about the three and how they had been yelled out when they were checking up on the pink-haired ninja. Tsunade asked repeatedly if they would leave, then moved to ordering, then threatening, then finally called the ANBU to have them forcefully removed. That was where Neji came in along with Shikamaru, Sai, and Tenten.

It had taken more than the four of them to get the three ninja's tied up, but it only required the four of them to keep watch. Ino and Naruto had been taken down with a rather… loud protest, while Sasuke had just been destructive, having hospitalized almost an entire squad with a few broken bones.

It was touching in a rather odd way that they cared so much. Not to say that the others didn't, but they still had enough sense to go home and rest to retain their privilege of visiting.

"You guys are so stupid." Sai smiled at the three of them and continued to insult them as a messenger ninja walked in the holding room, heading towards Tenten. After whispering in her ear he turned and headed off, leaving the weapon's specialist to contemplate whether or not she should share the news.

"Let them go and let's get going, Sakura's awake." That seemed to catch Sasuke's attention and shut everyone up. Shikamaru undid their bindings and Sasuke was gone in a flash, leaving the others hot on his trail.

O.oo.O

She jumped and tightened her grip around Kakashi as the door flew open, not caring whom it was. She didn't want to lose the feeling of security, and she was afraid that if she let go she was going to find out it was nothing but a hallucination or genjutsu and she would wake up with four walls of stone surrounding her.

Kakashi though had other plans as he gripped her arms and slowly released her hold on him. "It's okay, Sasuke's here."

It pained the said boy to see her like this… afraid. The mention of his name though she did let go of their sensei and looked at him with puffy eyes, tears still flowing from them. Kakashi got up, leaving the room for the sake of privacy and closed the door behind him, leaning against it. If anything he could get them some time alone from the two blondes he knew were going to show up any minute now.

O.oo.O

They just seemed to stare at each other, onyx clashing with tear-stained emerald. But before he registered any actions in his mind he found himself wrapping his arms around her waist and holding onto Sakura with absolutely no desire to let go.

He heard her crying and all he could do was press his lips against the top of her head, the smell of strawberry shampoo filling his nose as he offered what comfort he could. She felt so fragile and all he could think to do was stand there. Little did he know that it was more than enough.

Sakura had taken fist-fulls of his navy blue shirt and closed her eyes, that scent of forest only causing her to cry more. She knew she was home, and she didn't care how she got there. The medic-nin had never thought she would get the chance to touch Sasuke, smell him, hug him, kiss him, run her hands through the surprisingly soft charcoal locks or get lost in the black pools of bliss he had for eyes. Just being this close left her with a happiness she didn't even knew existed on the earth's plain.

"I'm so glad I'm home." Sakura's words came out with a struggle as she began to calm down, and as she slowly peeled the side of her face away from his shirt that had been soaked by her tears she looked up at him, and offered a relieved smile. "I love you."

A ghost of a smile graced his expression for a few moments as his eyes softened. "Aa." He leaned down, giving her a short and chaste kiss. But that one kiss had felt more passionate than any thing she had ever felt from him before. It beat being held after a night of making love, or any time she would catch him staring at her out of the corner of her eye. It beat their first date, the first kiss, the first time held her hand, hell, it beat any other moment she had ever had with Uchiha Sasuke.

As she gripped his shirt tighter about to kiss him again he shook his head, releasing his hold only enough to pick her up, bringing her back to the hospital bed. He set her down on the mattress, placing the warmth of the sheets back over her small body and kissing her gently on the forehead before taking his place sitting next to her on the bed.

The moment was short lived as the door burst open for the second time that day, Kakashi stumbling in and falling over as Ino and Naruto shoved into the room, the others filing in after them and stopping when they saw Sakura.

Ino didn't waste anytime of moving to the unoccupied section of the bed and throwing her arms around the girl. Sobs racked from the bride-to-be as she kept on muttering things like "Thank Kami." Followed by a " we can choose flowers now," or "don't scare me like that."

Naruto was next, trying to find a place he could fit in as well. Ino was latched on, taking up one side of the bed, while Sasuke was sitting on the other side, his fingers interlocked with Sakura's and a look that said there was no force in heaven or hell that was going to get him to move. So, the kyuubi took the only remaining spot left, he crawled on the bed and moved in between Sasuke and Ino and straddled Sakura, claiming his moment of hugging as well.

Any other time this would of probably been extremely awkward, but Sakura didn't care. If she could she would be giving everyone in the room right now a hug, but if this was the best she could do, like hell she was gonna push it away.

She was home.

O.oo.O

**Author's Note:**

No, this is defiantly not the end, so don't think it is. I think I'm only about halfway through right now, so we still got a ways to go. But, as I'm always saying at the end of each chapter, I'm really sorry for the late update. I got a job and they had me working not even a day after school was over! And now, I've been constantly working without so much as a breather and I'm stressed out! Being a waitress is an evil, evil job!

Anyhow, I'll try to update in a week or so, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if it was a little bit short, but either the next one or the one after that is going to probably be very, very long.

On another note, this chapter is dedicated to a very awesome person that sent me the longest review I've ever gotten. Lillfia seriously made my month will all the great things she had to say and I wanted to thank her soooo much for it. So thanks Lillfia I love ya to death!

Review and I'll give you a virtual high five. You know you want one.


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